Emjay Bailey Behind the Colourway – Stainless

Stainless steel has always been my favourite metal bar none. The dull shine of a found metal sink stopper chain around my neck has always been preferred over fine silver or gold trinkets. Stainless is my nod to the modern beauty that supports our structures, our medical instruments, transportation, industry, art and everything is touched and upheld by steel at some point in its journey. Inspired by the cool, sleek vibe of commercial kitchens, elemental feel of industrial welding and shiny grain of steel precision instruments, this colourway reflects the depths of beauty and awesome richness we have in every day things, things we often take for granted. Stainless was one of the first repeatable colourways I developed, released in 2012 as a delicate, cool gray semi-solid colour path, non pooling and lightly sprinkled with subtly darker layers.

It strikes a bit different on each base, looking especially metallic and mesmerizing on a bamboo merino blend, and positively glamorous when paired with sparkling stellina. On a crunchier more hearty wool, the colour path is reminiscent of a the grey down of a big friendly Husky you might want to curl up with on a cold arctic night. Stainless is like the most amazing cheerleader, pairing so wonderfully with and bringing out the best in a bright contrasting colour. It brings out any colourway’s best self and creates so much definition of colour drama, beautifully framing the other colours in a subtle context that allows their complexity to shine rather than crowd together. Most importantly though, I love it for its ability to be intrinsically content, perfect and completely gorgeous just on its own.

As a colourist I tend to find my comfort zones in the high contrasting madness spectrum. I enjoy combining all colours in a way that is very complex and layered and sometimes struggle more to achieve simplicity. Neutrals are a challenge for me to work with and truly love, but Stainless and I hit it off right off the bat and I look forward to painting it on to many many more skeins.